Attention all Mirrolure Junkies:
Whenever you hear a conversation about speckled trout fishing in North Carolina, inevitably Mirrolures enter the discussion, but rarely do you ever hear anything about Mirrolure fishing for stripers. One of the most fun, effective, and specktaculars ways to draw an aggressive strike from a striper is to fish a slow sinking, suspending Mirrolures such as the MR-17, Mr-27, or the Catch 2000 or Catch Jr. series. These hard baits are an absolute blast to fish around heavy structure or stumpy banks when the fish aren’t hitting on topwater baits. If you think a big trout bite hitting a suspending MR-17 is fun, then you should catch a 24 inch striper on one. You better be holding on with a tight grip and have your drag set just right (loose enough to not pull the rod out of your hand but tight enough to get a good hookset). You might think that you would stay hung up, but this is not the case. For example, when fishing stump fields, most of the time you can see the stumps and if you can’t see them, you know about how deep most of them are under the surface. Just let your bait sink to just above where you think the tops of the stumps are and twitch away, just as you would trout fishing. You can also kind of twitch your bait around the stumps by adjusting the angler of your retrieve. Just like a trout, the stripers will hit the bait while it’s suspended and it’s game on.
One of the best proving grounds for this type of fishing is all the stumpy banks around the upper Pamlico River near Washington during high water. The stripers will get up along the banks and ambush bait in the stumps. A stealthy approach and a well presented Mirrolure will get em everytime. Another great area for this type of fishing, perhaps the best in the state as far as sheer numbers go, is all of the stump fields at the mouth of the Roanoke River. Most folks fish by trolling or casting stick baits like the Rattling Rogue, but a fun way to change it up is to fish a Mirrolure. In most of these areas, the water is fairly cloudy from all the suspended silt in the river, so bright colors tend to work better. I like the Electric Chicken (EC), the 808, the hot pink (HP), etc. I encourage you to try it. Have fun and get er done!
